2018 Award winners

Tim Field is an amazing teacher and coach, always going above and beyond to ensure the growth and learni ng of his students. Tim’s students are amazed by how much of his personal time he devotes to teaching, training and coaching. It truly shows how passionate he is about teaching. 

Tim supports a large number of undergraduate and MBA students through the case competition program. Generations of students come back to support the program because of how grateful they are to him. Tim personally manages stakeholders to ensure the continuity of the program, allowing students to benefit from this unique experience.

Tim teaches students how to think, not what to think. He is devoted to his students’ learning so much so that he offers every student a detailed, thought out evaluation following each examination. Every student dreams of having a teacher as devoted as Tim. He not only shares his knowledge and insights, but furthermore empowers students to truly grow and achieve dreams of their own.

Kathleen McAleese is known for having “the patience and temperament of a saint.” She began her career at Concordia in the Department of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering in 1999 and joined the Department of Design and Computation Arts in September 2008 as the Department Assistant.

In her role, Kathy fulfills, with v ersatility and deftness, numerous tasks. Her colleagues in the department depend heavily on Kathy’s administrative expertise and knowledge. Kathy’s greatest strength is her relationship with students: she is reassuring, builds confidence, conveys empathy, and makes students feel that she is on their side. A recent graduate noted Kathy’s “commitment to creating an efficient, safe and caring environment where students and faculty members can excel at their tasks,” which is “evident in the way she infuses her work with genuine interest and concern for those she serves.” It is this kind of personal connection between Kathy and students that compelled them to nominate her for the award. 

Not only is Antwi Boasiako a top-ranked PhD student, but he is an agent of change as well. Concerned about gaps in knowledge on Africa, Antwi networked young African scholar s at Concordia and McGill to convene an African Elections panel in February 2017. Drawing participants from the two universities and the g eater Montreal community, the panel discussed the 2016 elections in Ghana, Uganda, Gambia and the Democratic Republic of the Cong o.

In October 2017, Antwi led a team of graduate students to organize the First Concordia-McGill Universities African Studies Conference. This conference attracted Africanists from universities in Canada and across the world to share research findings on development issues in Africa. Antwi sought and obtained funding from several university bodies to ensure the success of the conference.

Antwi’s inspiring initiatives in promoting knowledge on Africa at the university have culminated in the formation of the Concordia African Studies Working Group, comprising faculty and graduate students. The Group has since institutionalized the African Elections Roundtable and organized the 2017 panel in March 2018, highlighting Kenya.

Alex Custodio has been an integral part of the English Department for five years and is devoted to making the classroom and university accessible. Her departmental contributions include editing and layout for Headlight 

(2016-2018), posters for Concordia’s Writer’s Read Events (2016-17), design and layout for the undergraduate journal Soliloquies (2015-16), and the layout of proceeding from the Literature Undergraduates’ Colloquia at Concordia (2015-16). The 2017-2018 school year saw Alex launch the first departmental, graduate-run academic publication: Insight.

As the VP Internal of the Student Association of Graduates in English (SAGE), Alex has been a vocal advocate for students. In this role, Alex represents students at department councils, guiding policy, and providing liaison between the university and students. She wrote SAGE’s guidelines on event accessibility, distributing them to departmental groups to help guide them through hosting events. 

Alex also sits on the SAGE Committee on Equality and Visibility in Academia, which is focused on increasing diversity and ethical pedagogical practices. This semester, Alex organized a workshop on classroom accessibility the Centre for Teaching and Learning for English Department faculty and teaching assistants.

Dilara Omeroglu’s contribution to enhance the quality of student life at Concordia started in 2016. She took an executive position as VP-Communications with the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter of Concordia. Throughout her term, Dilara contributed in many ways to improve our university. She is continuously working around Fairtrade initiatives and has also represented Concordia by participating in a 10-week engagement initiative that aims to empower the youth. Dilara's commitment to improve the experience of Concordia students was also evident through her participation at the Day of Action of EWB - Canada. She represented the university at parliament by engaging its members on the importance of the Development Finance Institute (DFI) to support women and youth initiatives.  

Dilara holds the position of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Representative with the Engineering & Computer Science Student Association (ECA), where she works to improve the engineering curriculum, as well as advance the GE certificate. Dilara continues to be involved and works towards contributing to Concordia's community. She is compassionate, hardworking and driven.

Keroles Riad is doing a PhD in the Individualized program (INDI), researching new photo -curable polymers for stereolithography 3D printing. His contribution to student life comes from the commitment to improvement in different spheres at the university. Keroles is genuinely caring and has r e presented students for years in circles such as the Council of the School of Graduate Studies, as a Senator and as founder of the Graduate Individualized Student Association (GISA).

As an outstanding and accomplished researcher in his field, Keroles manages to go above and beyond f or the Concordia community. Keroles is always generous with his time and knowledge, taking on many community challenges. Kero, as he is affectionately referred to, has consistently imagined, implemented and managed several long-term projects, including re-shaping the INDI program by establishing the GISA. Kero has worked to restructure e the Graduate Students Association (GSA) through instituting new policies and he has mobilized the Concordia community through an awareness campaign on sustainable waste management.

Bold and humble, with an incredible attitude, Keroles is a great asset to the Concordia community, making it a better and more sustainable place for everyone.

Carlos Zetina is a PhD student at the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering (MIAE) at Concordia. Through his initiatives, Carlos has provided graduate students, who often feel isolated in their work, the opportunity to connect in meaningful and professionally enriching ways.

In 2016, Carlos initiated and led the formation of the Montreal Operations Research Student Chapter (MORSC), now consisting of over 220 members. In 2016-2017, Carlos was the Montreal co-president of the Operations Research Challenge (TORCH), a competition for high school students that promotes interest in operations research. Carlos is also the creator of the MIAE PhD mentorship program. In this program, first year PhD students are assigned to senior PhD students to help them deal with various aspects of PhD student life. 

Carlos has a talent for making any event idea, no matter how ambitious, a reality. The events organized through his leadership include numerous talks, software workshops, career panels and a seminar by Jorge Cham, the creator of PhD Comics. Carlos has been instrumental in providing his fellow students with experience, information and guidance during their time at Concordia.